Volume 125 Issue 101
kansan.com
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
BYE BYE, BENNY
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Members of the Ad Astra coalition talk to students on Wescoe Beach about voting for Ad Astra in the Student Senate elections. Students can vote in person or online on Wednesday and Thursday.
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Mackenzie Oatman, a member of the KUnited coalition, talks to students on Wescoe Beach about voting for KUnited. Members of both coalitions have been handing out and tabling all over campus in preparation for the Student Senate elections.
CAMPUS
University program reaches out to elderly, teens
EMILY DONOVAN edonovan@kansan.com
At 82 years old, Dotty Janzen doesn't fit the image of the coffee-feuled, Facebook-checking conventional student that professors have grown accustomed to. Monday at 3 p.m., however, she enters a classroom where her fellow students are more likely to recognize a song by George Gershwin than Nicki Minai.
"People who are in retirement, or near retirement, recognize that there are still a lot of things that they want to learn," said Jim Peters, director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University.
In the fall of 2004, the University held the first enrichment class in the Continuing Education Building
Janen, who lives in Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton, is proud to be among this year's 2,100 students. Between making phone calls to family members and visiting with others in her retirement community, she studies motivations behind the Arab Spring and the schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims in "What's Going on in the Middle East?"
just off campus. Now the program reaches 17 cities across Kansas and the Kansas City area, holding classes at nursing homes, community colleges and other campuses for people anywhere from 16 to more than 100 years old.
"I don't want to become a little old lady that sits in a chair and rocks her rocking chair," lanzen said. "I've always been interested in learning and growing. I don't want
to just sit around and play bingo."
Classes, which are generally two to three hours long and last for three weeks, are compact enough to drill a subject but flexible enough to fit into potential students' schedules.
"I've don't want to just sit around and play bingo."
DOTTY JANZEN Program participant
The 59 different classes currently offered through the University's program cater to diverse interests, Peters said. A senior citizen who worked as an attorney, for example, may not have had the time in her
college schedule to take a course on Emily Dickinson or architecture in Ancient Rome.
"The Osher Foundation has done studies that show that the more actively engaged a senior is academically, the more likely they're going to live longer and have healthier lives," Peters said. "We are promoting lifelong learning."
In weeks and semesters past, Janzen has taken classes on politics in Kansas, the unique differences separating eastern and western Europe and prairie flowers.
"When I'm teaching courses on Broadway musicals written 80 years ago, these are things these people remember and they experienced many years ago," said Paul Laird, school of music professor. "You're bringing back a treasured
Teaching both at the University and through the Lifelong Learning Institute, Laird sometimes covers the same information for both his 21-year-old and 90-year-old students. Since the Lifelong Learning Institute is noncredit for enrichment, his classes have no tests or quizzes, only lecture and some discussion.
"These students all want to be there," Laird said. "They're doing this o remember things from their past and learn new things. They're trying to keep themselves active."
part of their past and they really appreciate that. You're not doing that with regular college students — you're exposing them to it for the first time."
Edited by Madison Schultz
MEMBERSHIP FEES AT SITES IN NORTHEAST KANSAS:
IN NORTHEAST KANSAS:
• One course—$40
• Two courses—$65
• Three courses—$85
• Four courses—$100
• For each additional course above four, you pay $15. For example, five courses: $115; six courses: $130. Fees may vary in other regions.
FAST FACTS:
- Focuses on members 50+ years old but no age requirement
* No registration deadline but classes may fill quickly
* 59 different classes currently being held
* Three two-hour lectures
CLASSIFIED 7 CRYPTOQUIPHS 8 SPORTS 8
CROSSWORD 5 OPINION 4 SUOKU 4
Osher Institute
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
Polls are open for Student Senate elections. Cast your ballot and make your voice heard.
Today's Weather
Rain / thunder. 70 percent chance of rain.
Wind NW at 15 mph.
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Here we go again.